Persona 4: A Year of Adventure
by Spark Brave
Summary: Paul Bygrave is a stuck up 16 year old highschool student from England. He is sent to Japan by his parents in an attempt to let him get to know his uncle Dojima. No one expected the murders, the Shadows or the Personas. Paul's opinions on life and other people will change as he embarks on this adventure with the help of his friends and especially a young detective.(OCxNaoto) AU P4
1. Prologue

**This fanfiction is an alternate universe of Persona 4 in which the main character is completely OC. The fanfic is rated M for harsh language, some gore and one scene of a sexual nature later on. This fanfiction contains shipping of a canon character with an OC. If this kind of fanfic offends you please avoid reading.**

Prologue

One second I was sat on a train in the middle of Japan and the next I was here, wherever the hell this place was. It looked like the inside of a limo but outside there was nothing but darkness and fog. The 'limo' I was in was blue everywhere, it had long windows, comfortable seats, Champaign. You know, all that classical limo stuff.

On the opposite side of the limo, sat behind a small circular table was an old man in a black suit with bloodshot eyes and the longest nose I have ever seen. This guy should get some plastic surgery or some shit. "That's not very polite." What the hell, did this guy just read my mind?

"That I did young man." Okay, this shit definitely got weirder. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. It would appear we have a guest with an intriguing destiny," he chuckled dryly "my name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exits between dreams and reality, mind and matter. It is a room only those who have signed a contract may enter. Could such a fate await you in the near future?"

Okay I have got to be tripping on something. What did those assholes on the train slip into my drink? Igor chuckled again.

"I can assure you that this is all very real. Now then, why don't you introduce yourself?"

Sure, I didn't think this was real but I had no reason to refuse him so "My name is Paul Bygrave. I'm from England." And for those of you who wonder what I'm doing in Japan, read the rest of the damn story, what I'll tell you at the moment is that I studied Japanese for years because I have family over here.

"I see." His smile widened "Now then, let's take a look into your future shall we?" His hand waved around above the table and a deck of tarot cards suddenly appeared. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" I didn't. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the result is always different." That's because they shuffle the goddamn cards "Life follows the same principles, does it not?" Point taken.

Once again he waved his hand above the table and the cards separated themselves into six different piles. He picked up one of the cards at random and flipped it "First we have the Tower in the upright position. This means that in the immediate future a terrible catastrophe is imminent. The card representing the future beyond that is…" he flips another card "the Moon in the upright position. This card represents hesitation and mystery, very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination and a great mystery will be imposed upon you. In the coming days you will enter into a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. There will be many twists and turns on your journey, your view on the world will change greatly and something you never thought possible will happen. I look forward to it."

Igor's eyes widened as he apparently remembered something important "Ah, I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." I looked to my right and saw that there was in fact a woman sitting next to Igor, I probably didn't notice her because I was so transfixed on his massive nose. She was blonde with her hair worn back, she wore entirely blue and had strangely pink eyes. "This is Margaret, she is a resident of this place. Much like myself."

"My name is Margaret," she spoke in a strange monotone "I am here to assist you on your journey."

"We shall attend to the details another time." Igor was apparently going to decide when my apparent acid-trip ended, I was cool with that "Until then, farewell."

-A Year of Adventure-

I'm going to stop the serious narration of events for a moment and outline what you're going to be hearing from me throughout this. First of all, I'm sure you can tell by now that I was quite an arrogant bastard back then. No, scratch that. I was completely stuck up. I had a vast superiority complex and thought everyone was below me, it was because of this that I didn't have any friends.

You see, I came from an area in the West-Midlands of England to the fine country of Japan in order to spend some quality time with my uncle and his daughter. Both of whom I had never really met. Apparently the story was that when my grandparents split up both of them took a kid with them, grandma took mum and stayed over in England where she eventually had me. Granddad took my uncle who was only a baby at the time to Japan, where he had always wanted to live.

My grandparents weren't so hostile to each other to completely split the family up so they had the two siblings visit each other once every few years when one of them could afford to travel. That's how they both still know the other exists. My mum and dad met through work and throughout 2011 they had a big business trip to go on and had more than enough money so they made sure I was able to go to Japan and meet the rest of my family.

Now that we've got background out of the way I'll be telling you that my stay in Yasoinaba was… eventful to say the least. I was sixteen when I got there and seventeen when I left, I won't go into too much detail on that but I will say that Igor was correct. Something unexpected did happen. Not the Shadows, not the Personas. Those were both strange but the most unexpected things that happened there were: 1. I changed my opinions as a person and 2. I fell in love.

Now that that's out of the way just sit back folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

-A Year of Adventure-

I awoke back on the train. It's funny, I could have sworn I had a dream but I couldn't for the life of me remember what. Oh well, after waking up at stupid-o'clock in the morning and boarding that private plane that dad got the money to buy through work I had flown for god-knows how many hours and was about to get off a train that went to Yasoinaba. Apparently they didn't have an airport.

The announcer on the train said that Inaba was the next stop so I stood up and grabbed my stuff from the shelf above the seats. I remember the reactions at school when they announced I would be going to Japan for the year, no one seemed that bothered and some appeared quite happy. Oh well, I don't give a shit about their opinions.

My uncle was supposed to be meeting me at the station but judging by the fact that that it took ages to communicate with Japan from England I doubted he'd gotten the message. He would probably turn up anyway though because what responsible adult just leaves someone who's barely out of childhood on his own? I don't know what it's like around here but where I'm from you're just as likely to get stabbed up in the street as you were to see rain at some point in the month.

The train drew to a halt and I got off, lugging my rucksack with me. The news appeared to be playing on the screens dotted about the surprisingly dull and empty station, it was playing something about a politician having an affair with an announcer while his wife was overseas. Scum. That's what I'd call him, pure rotten scum.

I got out the door of the train station and saw nobody… at all. The town was dull-looking and empty, there really was absolutely nothing there. If only I knew at the time that this ghost-town was going to become that literally over the next year.

"Hey over here!" I heard from my far left, looking over there I saw a middle-aged man with black hair (and a few grey) and stubble on his chin. Not only was this man looking at me but he bore a strong resemblance to my mother so I could tell instantly that this was the uncle I was to be staying with. He had a little girl of about five or six hiding behind him as he flagged me over.

I walked over to him and he smiled "Well, you're even more handsome in person than in your photo." Flattery, a typical way of getting on someone's good side so that you don't have to worry about them not liking you later. A dodge, that's all it is. "Welcome to Inaba, I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'm your uncle."

"It's nice to meet you." I said flatly. I knew I had to be nice if I would be living with him for the next year but I sure as hell didn't think I'd enjoy it.

He laughed a little "You probably don't remember but we've met. I've changed your diapers before y'know." I assume he was trying to be funny but my English mind kept yelling at me that it was 'nappies' and not 'diapers' so I was a little too distracted to play along with the joke. He gently pushed the little girl towards me. She was a brunette with her hair tied up on either side of her head, even with my stuck up attitude I had to admit she was kind of adorable. "This here's my daughter, Nanako. Go ahead and introduce yourself."

Nanako looked at me and gulped "'lo" she said quickly before darting back behind her father.

Dojima laughed a little "What are you being so skittish for?" she clearly took offense to this and smacked him full force in the back of the leg. "Ow." He began laughing once again, clearly more amused by her little outburst. "Well then, let's get going."

-A Year of Adventure-

We pulled up at Moel gas station because Nanako insisted on going to the toilet even though we were ten minutes tops from the house. I didn't know that at the time but when I found out I wasn't as amused as most people would have been. An attendant sporting a red and white uniform ran up to the car "Hi, welcome to Moel!" well, she was certainly enthusiastic about her job.

Dojima, ever the loving father, asked Nanako "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?"

She nodded "Mh hm."

We exited the car and Dojima asked the attendant where the bathroom was. She looked at Nanako "It's in the back to the left. Do you know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."

Nanako rolled her eyes "I know, I know. Geez." I respected that reaction, I didn't like being treated like a baby either. Another thought ran through my head. What if she's left handed?

This gas attendant was clearly the nosy, gossiping type as she immediately began probing us for information. "Are you going on a trip?"

"No we just went to pick him up," Dojima answered "he just moved her from England."

"England!"

"Fill up the car while you're at it. Regular's fine."

"Right away sir!" She must really love her job.

Dojima sighed "Good a time as any for a smoke." I heard him mumble as he made his way to the back of the building.

Once he was gone she began her probing again "Are you in highschool?" I nodded, I hated speaking to people like this. "Does it surprise an English kid to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging with your friends or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-timers at the moment. Why don't you give it some thought?" she stuck out her hand. I shook it reluctantly as Nanako came back from her little break.

The attendant noticed too "Oops, I should get back to work."

As she walked away I began to feel dizzy all of a sudden, it made me feel a little nauseous too. "Are you okay?" Nanako asked "You don't look so good." I narrowed it down to delayed jet-lag and just ignored it, I was sure it would pass by tomorrow.

-A Year of Adventure-

We arrived at the Dojima residence which was a relatively small house with a sliding front door. A bit stereotypical for a Japanese home but to be honest I had come expecting this kind of thing anyway. We entered and in no time we had dinner ready, we kneeled down on pillows on the floor around a small coffee table. Why they didn't just clear some stuff on the table near the kitchen area I have absolutely no idea.

We were all drinking when Dojima decided it would be best to strike up a conversation. "So, your mom and dad are busy as always. Didn't they dump you here because of some business trip?"

"That is the excuse they used." I said "But to be honest, I think they just wanted me to spend some time with the rest of the family."

"Yeah, well it must still be rough getting thrown into a place like this for a year because of your parents. Well, it's just me and Nanako here so it'll be nice to have someone else around. As long as you're here you're a part of the family so make yourself at home."

"I'll be sure to do that." Like I had a choice anyway.

"Good." He was about to take a bite of his food when I heard the phone ring from inside of his pocket. He took it out and answered it "Dojima speaking… I see, so where is it? …Alright I'm on my way." He put his phone back in his pocket. He turned back to us "Sorry but I've gotta go and take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me. I don't know how late I'll be, Nanako you help him out okay?"

"…Okay." She said reluctantly.

With that Dojima walked away and left into the pouring rain outside, leaving just me and Nanako. She sat back down and turned on the TV, the weather report was showing that there would be rain going throughout tomorrow. Me and Nanako began eating again, as much as I really didn't like socialising with children… or anyone really I felt that one of us had to break the awkwardness. "So, what does your father do?" I asked.

"He investigates stuff… like crime scenes." I was growing ever more curious "My dad's a detective." Damn, I had him pinned for a simpleton fool. Can't be right all the time I guess.

The news continued, once again covering the chancellor, Taro Namatame's affair with announcer Mayumi Yamano. I didn't like most people but those who make and break a commitment are just scum to me, this idiot was no exception. The poor bitch he had the affair with also appears to be having a rough time with her job, now that should teach her to get involved with a married guy.

Nanako once again changed the channel, this time landing on an advert that would become the bane of my existence. "At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day! Come see for yourself and get in touch with our products." The irritating little jingle then came "Every day's great at you Junes!"

To my absolute horror Nanako began singing along with it, this was going to be an incredibly long year.

-A Year of Adventure-

I was dreaming, I knew that much. The area I was in was foggy and barely visible, I could make out the shape of a person ahead of me. "Do you seek the truth?" a distorted voice called out "Then try to catch it!" The person up ahead began running deeper into the fog and I began to regain consciousness.

**...**

**Author's Note: This is my alternative take on Persona 4 in which the main character begins as a completely stuck-up asshole. I wanted to add a little more character into him instead of just having him this perfect guy whom everyone just looks up to for no clear reason. I also wanted to add a more personal touch to it so I ended up using my name for his, this should allow me to present him as a real persona and allow his emotions and opinions to develop with the story. And as for the romance tag, well Naoto won't be coming in until we get to the bit with Kanji just like in the game but she will be the love interest and play a major role in the change of our protagonist. Hm... I look forward to it.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Eventful First Day

_12__th__ of April, 2011_

I awoke to knocking on my bedroom door, I sat up in my futon and heard Nanako's voice through the door. "Breakfast's ready! Come downstairs, okay."

I groaned, this was the day I'd been dreading. It was the middle of April and these kids in Japan were only just starting another school year. One which I sadly have to attend. Damn, it's gonna be a long year.

I put on the uniform that had been prepared for me and went downstairs as Nanako requested. I felt odd, almost as if I'd had a nightmare… obviously not a bad one if I don't even remember it. I entered the kitchen and the smell hit me instantly, that beautiful smell of eggs and toast.

I had expected to see Dojima but looking around I found only Nanako. A girl this young was doing the cooking? That can't be right. Right…?

Nanako came out of the kitchen and put two plates on the table which was oddly clear now. "Good morning." She still appeared to be somewhat awkward with my presence but she was talking so I knew I'd have something to keep me busy for the rest of the year. "Let's eat." You don't have to tell me twice.

We both started eating our breakfast in silence which was both boring and awkward so I attempted to distract myself. "Do you do the cooking?" I asked, genuinely curious.

She looked proud "I can toast bread and cook sunny-side-up eggs in the morning. Dad can't cook so I buy dinner." For one so young she did seem quite capable, probably comes with having a cop for a dad. "You're starting school today right?" I nodded "Then let's go together!"

I sighed and thought about it. I had no idea where the school was so I was going to require assistance at some point, I might as well get it now "Okay."

-A Year of Adventure-

I and Nanako were walking by the Samegawa Flood Plain, according to Nanako this was in the school zone. Strange place. Nanako stopped and told me the directions to the school before turning around and walking to what I can only presume was her elementary school.

The rain was calm compared to the night before but it was still a problem so I made sure to bring my umbrella out with me. I was getting pretty close to the school when I saw some crazy brown-haired bastard ride a bike full speed past me, he was screaming so it was pretty clear what was going on. I simply watched as his bike hit a lamp post which he was then sent flying into. Quite entertaining to watch actually.

I left the idiot behind and continued walking until I reached a set of large gates. Behind the gates was a large, dull looking building. Yasogami Highschool. I wondered what kind of shit was going to happen while I was here. Probably boring. Probably going to be the dullest year of my life.

-A Year of Adventure-

I was led into my classroom by a teacher with grey hair and the biggest fucking teeth I have ever seen. All I'm saying is that I'd hate to be this guy's dentist. What are his appointments like an hour per tooth?

He stood behind the podium at the front of the classroom "Alright shut your traps!" he yelled at the muttering students and all went silent. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first. Just because its spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. As long as I'm around you students are gonna be pure as the driven snow."

I could almost hear the students groan. Of course they didn't really, the pussies were too busy cowering to make any sort of noise but I could see from the expressions they all carried that they all wanted to. "Now I hate wasting my time but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's been thrown out of England and to the toxic waste that is Japan like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there so you girls should think twice before asking the little bastard out! Tell them your name kid, and make it fast!"

In England we didn't put up with this shit from our teachers so I took the initiative "I'm Paul Bygrave and you sir are a sad little fuck nut who would rather pick on his students than a man his own age. We have a word for that, it's called a coward." I said them so calmly and yet the students around me got these expressions like this asshole was going to kill me with his stare or something.

Morooka looked shocked, then those wide eyes turned into a glare that neither bothered nor scared me in the slightest "Why you little… you're going down on my rotten little shit list! Now listen up, this town is miles away from your fancy country of perverts and assholes in more ways than one."

"I wouldn't say that. There's an asshole to my left." I said cheekily. The class couldn't hold it in anymore and they all burst out into fits of hysterical laughter. To be honest I didn't think it was quite that funny but oh well.

"Shut the hell up!" the fuming teacher screamed at the class. "Now you listen here. I don't know how you did it in shitty little England but around here we respect…"

He was cut off by a girl wearing a green jacket with short brown hair "Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"

Mr. Morooka stood there for a moment "Yeah sure. You hear that punk? Your seats over there! So hurry up and sit down already!"

I went over to my new seat, making a point to walk slowly in an attempt to piss off the Mister Gilbert rip-off. I sat next to the brunette girl who leaned over and whispered "He's the worst huh?" I nodded, I also noticed that the bike guy was sat behind me. Small world isn't it?

"I guess we'll just have to hold in there for a year." I could hear the rest of the students begin to talk about me. Apparently I was unlucky to get stuck in this class for the year and was a badass for bitching out Morooka. To be honest though in England we do that shit to teachers all the time so I don't understand why it's considered so impressive here.

"Shut your traps!" Morooka shouted again "I'm taking roll and I damn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!"

So this is where I'm stuck for the year huh? I am so boned.

-A Year of Adventure-

The bell for the end of school went off and finally I heard those magical words "That's all for today. Normal lectures start again tomorrow." Thank god, I don't think I could listen to another second of this bastard's ranting.

Just as I was about to get up with everyone else the school intercom system sounded "Attention all teachers! Please report to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must remain on school ground until further notice. Thank you." The intercom went quiet again.

Morooka turned back towards us "You heard the announcement. Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise!" He turned and left the classroom for the faculty office.

The others in the classroom started talking, speculating on why we were being kept back. We then heard sirens from outside. No one could tell whether it was the police, an ambulance or the fire brigade. The fog was so thick you would probably require a chainsaw to get through it.

I saw one of the guys walk up to a red-wearing girl with black hair, they had a brief chat but ultimately he walked away with a curious look on his face. Probably asking about rumours or some shit. The green-wearing girl from before also walked up to her and they began chatting.

The intercom sounded once again "Attention all students! There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the school zone. Please remain calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, then quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers, head directly home. Thank you for your patience."

I stood from my seat and prepared to leave when the two girls approached me, the one in green spoke first. "Hey, are you going home by yourself?" No shit Sherlock. "Do you wanna come with us?" her face brightened "Oh, nearly forgot. I'm Chie Satonaka, you know I sit next to you right?"

"Of course." I replied sarcastically. She didn't seem to pick up on the sarcasm.

"Well, nice to meet you." She certainly was a cheery one. She gestured to her black-haired friend "This is Yukiko Amagi."

Yukiko fidgeted nervously "Oh, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry if we're bugging you." It looks like I've already found the class pushover.

"H-hey, don't apologise. It makes me look like I've got no upbringing." Chie told her friend. "I just wanted to ask some stuff, really that's all."

We bagan to make our way out of the classroom when we were approached by the bike guy, he had his eyes lowered in shame. "U-um, Chie. This was a really awesome movie, the action was amazing to see. And…" he handed her a DVD "I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!" She took the DVD. "See ya, gotta go. Thanks." He tried to bolt for the door.

Chie didn't let him go that easily. She gave chase and managed to get past him really quickly, delivering a kick to the crotch. I have to admit, I cringed pretty badly.

He stood there holding onto his crushed manhood as Chie opened her DVD. "What the…" The DVD had a large crack running through it. "I can't believe this! You cracked my Trial of the Dragon you asshole!"

"If makes you feel any better I think you just cracked mine." He was struggling to speak through his pained whimpers. I think he might have testicular cancer now.

"Are you alright?" Yukiko asked gently.

"He's fine Yukiko! Just let him suffer." Chie was clearly pissed off and judging from the inhuman amount of pain he's in I'd say all the working out she does in that tracksuit jacket pays off.

Chie grabbed Yukiko's arm and pulled her out of the classroom. I stayed and looked at the kick-to-the-nuts guy a little longer before deciding to leave him be and catch up with the girls. I didn't necessarily like them but I had to do something in this boring-ass town.

On the way out of the gates we were approached by a pale teenager with pitch black hair and black eyes. "You're Yuki, right?" He asked, directing the question at Yukiko "Do you want to go hang out somewhere?" I was assuming that this was the town creep.

"I… er no thanks." She replied, I couldn't blame her for being freaked out.

"Fine!" he ran off but I heard him mutter "Stupid bitch is gonna pay."

I saw the guy with the bike walk out from the gates, he was still hunched over slightly from the altercation earlier. "Turned down another heartsick fool huh?" he asked Yukiko "Damn, you're cruel. You shot me down like that last year."

"I don't remember that." She responded.

"Seriously? The do you wanna hang out some time?"

"I'd rather not." She sounded quite bothered by the attempted flirting.

"That'll teach me to get my hopes up. Oh well, I've got my eyes on someone else anyway. You two had better not pick on the new guy too much!" He yelled the last part as he rode out of the school on his somehow still intact bike.

-A Year of Adventure-

"Oh, so you came here to visit family. I thought it would have been something way more serious." Chie would make quite the interrogator, ever since we left the school I was being probed with questions. She looked a little frustrated "There really is nothing here. Don't get me wrong, it's nice but it would be good if we had something cool to show you while you're here. There is the Amagi Inn. Yukiko's family runs it and it pretty much keeps the town rolling."

Yukiko blushed "I don't think that's entirely true."

We kept walking and talking for a while more before coming across what was obviously the incident the school went on about. There were police cars all over the place and a barrier had been put up. This must have been serious.

We heard some of the bystanders talking about it. "A highschool girl left early and came down this street…"

"Who could imagine _that _hanging from an antenna!?"

"I wanted to see it too."

"I can't believe a dead body showed up around here!"

All three of us froze. Chie was the first to speak "What did she say? A dead body?"

"Hanging from the antenna?" Yukiko was disgusted, as was I.

"Sick bastards." I commented out loud. I may not like the people around me but none of them deserve to die except the ones who would pull shit like this.

Across the barrier I saw a familiar face and he saw me. Dojima approached us with a slightly irritated look on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We were just passing through." I told him truthfully.

"Shoulda known that would happen. We told the damn principle not to let the kids through here." He furrowed his brow in irritation.

"You know this guy?" Chie asked.

"Yeah. He's my uncle." I informed her.

"I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I hope you'll get along with my nephew." It seemed like he was trying to hint at something. "But you three should really head home, it's not safe."

A young man in a black suit with equally black hair came running away from the crime-scene with a rather green look bout him. He ran towards a nearby bush and before I knew it he was vomiting into it. Pathetic excuse for a cop, how do you get this far without seeing a corpse?

Dojima appeared to have similar thoughts "Adachi! When the hell are you gonna stop acting like a rookie and grow a pair!? Do you want me to send your ass back to the academy?"

"S-sorry." Adachi said as he finished throwing up.

Dojima sighed "Go wash your face. I'm gonna go poke around for more information."

Dojima walked away and Adachi soon followed. I and the girls decided it would probably be a better idea to hang out some other time. I was excited, no matter how despicable the act was I cannot deny that this town suddenly got interesting.

-A Year of Adventure-

I was watching the local news with Nanako over dinner. It is quite odd how quickly a story makes it to the papers. The murder was already being talked about.

"Around noon today a woman was found dead near the Samegawa Flood Plain in Yasoinaba. The deceased has been identified as Mayumi Yamano, a local announcer who was in the news recently regarding her affair with a council secretary. The body was found hanging from the television antenna on a local resident's roof. Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was in such a state. The cause of death is still uncertain, leaving the police to investigate whether this was an accident or a homicide. A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress and plans to fully canvas the area are delayed until tomorrow."

The news went on with its next story as I was left to ponder this. The obvious theory would be that the wife of Taro Namatame killed her over the affair but that made no sense, Misuzu Hiragi was performing overseas at the moment. That left only Namatame himself but he had no reason to, it could have been to keep her quiet but that would have been pointless seeing as the affair was already all over the news. There was something not quite right about this.

My thought process was interrupted when I heard Nanako singing "Every day's great at your Junes!" That song was going to get irritating so very quickly, I could feel it.

She began looking at me expectantly. Oh, fuck it. "Every day's great at your Junes!" I hate myself for letting her cuteness sway me. I can't deny it, that kid is just adorable. She smiled at me ear-to-ear and began singing it repeatedly. After this little family interaction I went upstairs and threw myself onto the futon. I had something to keep my mind occupied for a while at least.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Midnight Channel

_13th of April, 2011_

The day began once again with Nanako waking me from my slumber. I'm not going to deny it any more, she is adorable and the way she handles herself under these circumstances simply amazes me. These thoughts amaze me too, I'm not used to liking people and that's not likely to change any time soon.

We left the house together and once again parted at the Samegawa Flood Plain. As I got closer to the school a familiar face decided to show itself, the yelling of the bike guy was heard behind me and I saw him whiz past and crash once again. Somehow the fool got himself stuck face-first in a bin. I could hear him pleading for help from the inside so I decided to be the decent person here and help the guy out.

I grabbed his arms and pulled his head out of the bin leading to both of us falling to the floor. "Thanks," he said through his panting. "you're a life saver. I'm Yosuke Hanamura." We began walking to school together talking about random shit, I figured that having someone this accident prawn as a friend would prove to be quite entertaining. He began talking about the few things to do in this crap town. "Y'know what this town's famous for? Grilled steak, like that's anything special. If you're interested I know a place that does it cheap, you saved my ass so it's on me."

"Hell yeah." I replied, I may not like people but I will _never _refuse free steak.

"What about me?" we heard the feminine voice from behind us. We turned around to see Chie waving her broken DVD around, looking at Yosuke expectantly. This guy was gonna go broke very quickly at this rate. "You owe me remember?"

Yosuke began muttering to himself "Jesus, do I seriously have to treat two people?"

Looking back on it, if it hadn't been for this little interaction we probably never would have figured out half of the things we did. Our entire adventure was caused by a small moment like this, damn that's weird to think about.

-A Year of Adventure-

School ended and Yukiko had to go home to help at the inn. Thank God she didn't come along, I don't think Yosuke's wallet could have taken it. We walked to the place that Nanako wouldn't shut the fuck up about. Junes.

"What the... this is the cheap place you were talking about? They don't serve grilled steak here!" Chie was livid. As was I, the difference was that I kept my objections to myself. I didn't like coming across as a whiner. It just made me feel pathetic.

"Since you hopped onto the freeloader train I had to change my plans. I couldn't afford three steaks." Yosuke had a grin on his face that told me that this wasn't exactly putting a dent in his wallet. How cheap was this food?

"That's still no reason to take us to your place."

"If I may cut in," I began "what do you mean by 'his place'?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know. Well like I said I moved here about six months ago when my dad was assigned to manage this store."

"I haven't been to the local shopping district since though." I really hope that Chie was aware that Yosuke was sat directly across from her.

"You can't blame Junes for that!" Yosuke suddenly got defensive. "The people in this town approved the project so they have no right to complain if people come here rather than go to their stores."

"He has a point." I said. I hated when people say something and then contradict it later, they say it's alright and then they complain when it starts doing what it's their to do.

A girl with long brown hair came out of the kitchen area, she was rather pretty but she had a tired look about her. Yosuke noticed her too as he stood up "Hi Saki!" he yelled as he walked over to her.

"Who the hell is that?" I asked Chie.

"That's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district."

"Is she his girlfriend?"

"He wishes."

Yosuke had walked over to her "Hey, are you alright? You look dead today."

She smiled "I'm fine. I'm just tired is all." She turned her head and looked at me. "Oh, is that the new transfer student?" she walked over "Hi, I'm Saki Konishi. Hana-chan doesn't hang out with the other guys often so I hope you two can be friends. He's nosy though, you have to make sure to tell him right to his face if he starts to annoy you."

I would have agreed that he's annoying but I would prefer to stay on his good side. "Nah, he's a nice guy."

She laughed "I know, I'm just joking. Well my break is over, I'll see you guys around."

She started walking away before Yosuke apparently remembered something "Oh, Saki! What about that thing I mentioned?"

"Sure, sounds like fun. Pick me up on my day off okay."

Yosuke had the biggest smile on his face I had ever seen. He literally jumped into the air like an idiot and shouted at the top of his lungs "Booyeah!"

"What the hell was that about?" Chie asked. Yosuke looked at her and held up a movie ticket for the newest James Bond film. "Oh, now I get it. Speaking of love, have you guys heard of the Midnight Channel?"

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"They say that if you stare into a turned off TV on a rainy night the face of your soulmate will appear on the screen." I had one word running through my head at that moment. Bullshit.

Apparently Yosuke had similar thoughts "Wow, for a second I thought you were gonna say something useful. You don't seriously believe all that childish shit do you?"

"Childish!?" Chie looked pretty mad.

"See, this is exactly why you can't get a boyfri..." Yosuke was cut off by Chie grabbing his throat and throttling him in the middle of the food court. I was right, being this guy's friend was going to be fun.

After she'd finished committing physical assault Chie calmed down again. "Well it's raining tonight so I guess we'll see. You guys had better try it out."

I didn't believe this shit for a second but I've got nothing else to do so fuck it.

-A Year of Adventure-

Midnight was almost upon me. I was staring at my TV expecting nothing to happen, the clock hit midnight and as I suspected the screen stayed blank. I sighed and turned away from it before I saw a light suddenly become directed at the wall. I turned back and saw that the TV was in fact showing as static white screen with a figure on it. The figure was blurred but I could make out a Yasogami Highschool uniform and long brown hair. I was trying to make out who it was when I heard a voice.

**Thou art I**

My head began to hurt like a bitch and I staggered around.

**I am thou**

I began to fall forwards.

**Thou art the one who will open the door**

I finally fell face first into my TV but as I expected to come into contact with it I simply fell through! Or at least my head did, the rest of my body was too big to fit into it. I could see a thick yellow fog and nothing else as I attempted to push myself out of the TV. I succeeded but as I fell back I felt the back of my head impact with my small table and I blacked out.


	4. OC Profile

**Okay guys, I felt like I had to do this here because I've looked through what I have planned for this so far and I don't see anywhere I can fit in backstory without it dragging on. I may have him reveal small parts at one point or another but I can't guarantee that so here you go.**

Character Profile

Name: Paul Bygrave

Age: 16 (17 by the end)

Physical Description: Pitch black hair, light blue eyes, glasses.

Attire: Buttoned black blazer with a white shirt(school), black trench-coat with black shirt, trousers and shoes(winter, autumn and spring), chequered blue t-shirt and black trousers.

Personality: Stuck-up, superiority complex, despite this still has strong moral code, cares for people who do things to deserve it (such as Yosuke putting up with harassment and nagging constantly).

Likes: Being right, Sherlock Holmes stories, cute children, fighting Shadows, football (soccer for Americans).

Dislikes: Disloyalty, bullies, murderers, people who get everything for nothing.

Initial Persona: Incubus, abilities include Agilao, Mind Slice, Spirit Drain

Ultimate Persona: You'll have to wait and see.

Background: Paul grew up in the West Midlands of England, an area full of drug addicts and muggers. He was bullied mercilessly for all four years of middle school and learned there that those who picked on him were nothing but pathetic cowards who picked on the weak. Due to this new state of mind he began to grow his superior attitude to reflect on everyone around him until he considered himself better than almost everyone he met. His mother and her brother Ryotaro Dojima lived in separate countries so he never knew his uncle. This is the reason he was flown over to Japan and inadvertently got involved with the Inaba murders.


	5. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The TV World

_14th of April, 2011_

It was after school the next day. Me and my new acquaintances hadn't spoken all day so it seemed as though we had all seen the Midnight Channel. This thought was confirmed when Yosuke approached me at my desk and started fidgeting. "Hey..." he stood awkwardly for a moment "Y'know what, never mind."

I was about to tell him to spit it out when Chie also came over "Hey, did you guys see it last night?"

Yosuke grew a look of surprise "Well... how about you?"

"I did, I totally saw a girl." Oh snap, I knew she looked like a lesbian. "But... my soul mate's a girl. What does that mean?"

"It means you're a dyke." I said bluntly. They both looked at me with looks that said 'why the hell would you say that'. "What? I was just pointing out the obvious meaning."

"Dude, there are some things that you should just keep to yourself." Yosuke was shaking his head. Yosuke was shaking his fucking head at me. How the hell did that end up happening?

"You wouldn't like England then. We tend to point this shit out all the time."

"Yeah, well back on topic." Chie cut in "The girl on-screen was wearing our school uniform and she had long brown hair, the image was too blurry to make out much else."

Yosuke appeared to do a double take "That sounds just like the person I saw. I couldn't make out that much detail though, the image I saw was much blurrier."

Chie's eyes widened "We saw the same girl, does that mean we have the same soul mate?"

"I doubt it." I said. "Look at the idea of a soul mate, one person who you're destined to be with for the rest of your life. Two people having the same person as their soul mate makes no sense which would mean that something else is going on."

"Wha... do you think so?" Chie asked.

"He what did you see anyway?" Yosuke butted in. Should have seen that one coming. Time for me to sound crazy.

"Pretty much the same as you two. A highschooler with song brown hair and our uniform. Oh, there was this weird thing that happened. One minute I'm watching the screen and the next I'm hearing this creepy voice in my head, seemed to be speaking in Victorian English or some shit. As if that weren't enough I then proceeded to get a headache that felt like something was ripping my skull to pieces before falling face first into my motherfucking TV! Then I got stuck 'cause it was too small and ended up smashing my head off the table on my way out."

As expected they simply stared at me as if I was nuts. Then again I suppose the way I phrased it did sound more than a bit crazy. Oh well, who gives a shit if people think I'm nuts? It seemed as though they were just going to cut away from what I just said "It sounds like we all saw the same person." Yosuke said "But weird voices aside, what did you say about getting sucked into your TV? Were you that tired last night? You must have just fell asleep in front of it." Okay so maybe they weren't going to drop what I said.

"That would be one interesting dream though. I like the part where your head got stuck because your TV was too small, that's pretty realistic. If it had been bigger then..." Chie got a look on her face that told us she remembered something. "Oh that reminds me. My family was talking about buying a bigger TV."

Yosuke's eyes brightened "Well we are having a sale in our electronics department this month so they'll be lot cheaper." He turned to me. "Maybe we'll even find one you can fit into." They then both fell over while laughing hysterically. They were really going to piss me off this year.

-A Year of Adventure-

We were standing in the electronics department of Junes looking at the many TV's on display there. The particular one we were looking at was massive and looked almost big enough for someone to have a cinema experience in their living room... okay that's an exaggeration but it was still pretty fucking big. Chie was especially impressed. "This thing is huge... and holy crap it's expensive. Who affords something like this?"

"I don't know," Yosuke said. "rich folks? Honestly not that many people shop for TV's here. That's why we don't have clerks around."

The two of them then proceeded to walk up to the TV and tap their fists on it expectantly. Nothing happened and the two of them began laughing again. Chie then dragged Yosuke off to look for some cheaper TV's while I stayed behind at the one we were looking at. I figured that since this one was bigger than mine then I might be able to go all the way in, I wasn't going to try it of course. I was curious not insane. Well... I said I wasn't going to try to go in all the way but I didn't say anything about just putting in my hand.

I placed my hand on the TV and for a few seconds it didn't seem as if anything was going to happen. Maybe it was just a dream...

...My hand just slipped inside of the TV screen. I'm not mental! Well I am but that's not the point. The point is I was right and these idiots were about to suck it. They were still occupied on looking at TV's, Yosuke was putting on some sort of sales pitch. "This one is a display unit and it's a little old but... holy fuck!" Oh good, he finally noticed.

"What?" Chie asked. She turned to look where Yosuke was looking. Upon seeing me her jaw hit the floor. "No way."

They both came over and looked at my hand which was now submerged in the screen with dumbfounded looks on their faces. I had the smuggest look on my face that anyone had ever seen and will ever see again. Just the simple fact that I had proved that I was right was enough to give me a massive boost. As they continued speculating on how I was doing this I began thinking that maybe I could go further in, with this in mind I leaned forwards and stuck my head in as well. Once again I could see nothing but a thick yellow fog in here but as for what I could hear... well let's just say that I _really _hope Yosuke can get control of his bladder at some point. I couldn't see what happened out there but it sounded like panicking. A thought which was confirmed when I felt them both bump into me and we were all sent flying inside of the TV.

I can't honestly say what I was seeing at this point. It looked like some sort of swirling vortex but it was a sort of rounded square shape; kind of like one of those old TV's you still see in some places. Anyway back on topic, we were falling through the vortex and I was wondering exactly what the fuck was going on. I couldn't actually see the other two but I knew they were there as I could hear their screams of pain and I'd be lying if I said it didn't somewhat amuse me.

After what felt like only a few seconds of falling we landed... on our asses. Well, I say asses but I sort of landed on my back which didn't hurt as much but would still probably be bruised for the near future. Chie didn't seem to be too hurt either but Yosuke on the other hand was groaning in pain. "I think I cracked my ass." He managed to say.

"Well of course you did!" Chie yelled at him. I just gathered that this was how she relieved stress, if this was going to be a regular occurrence then that was probably going get annoying.

_Okay_ I thought to myself _got to prioritise. Now while I don't care for these two dimwits I might as well make sure they're alright, I can't find a way out of here if they can't walk. Then I look around, leaving them behind if they argue, to find a way out of this shithole. Alright, good plan Paul. Good plan. _"Is everybody alright?" I asked with a lack of concern in my voice.

"Yeah... I think so." Chie responded.

"Sure, I'm good. Although you don't sound like you give a shit." Yosuke caught on. I'm many things but I'm not a liar so I'll just be honest with him.

"Honestly, I think there are bigger problems than possible bruising right now but I had to ask right?"

"Yeah well could you at least try to sound concerned?" His irritation was growing. Bastard should just be happy I didn't walk off to find my own way out.

"Guys," Chie butted in. "take a look around."

Me and Yosuke were both confused for a moment before doing as she asked... holy shit was the only thing running through my mind. The first thing I noticed was the floor which had apparently been painted to show a group of people lying on the floor in the middle of some sort of circular pattern. As if that weren't foreboding enough there were also several of the metal pillars you get which hold studio lights dotted around the area. I'm guessing that the lights were the only reason we could see through the fog in this area but they mostly just make lens-flares on my glasses.

"What is this a studio?" Yosuke asked, dumbfounded.

"Certainly looks like one." I responded. "What wanker do you think built all this?"

"I don't have a clue... wait what's that!?" Yosuke freaked out. I turned to look where he was looking and saw... something. I could only see its silhouette through the fog but its shortness and rounded shape told me that it definitely wasn't human which given the circumstances completely justified us panicking and running away into the fog-filled hell we had found ourselves in.

-A Year of Adventure-

After what seemed like hours of running we found a building of some sort. Due to the fog we couldn't tell exactly what it was but frankly at the time we had bigger concerns; and so like the unlucky bastards we were we entered into the room that would lead to all the shit later in the year. The fog was thinner inside which meant we could see now. Not that we really paid attention.

We were all panting from the running and I felt like my lungs were going to explode. I decided right then and there that I was going to be playing more football to get more in shape. Back on topic, after a little more of this I finally turned my head up to take in my surroundings and I really wish that I hadn't. It was someone's room, there were posters on the wall of... somebody. I couldn't tell who it was because all the faces on the posters had been either cut or ripped out. The big thing though was that in the centre of the room there was a chair, above said chair was a rope tied in a noose. _Holy shit_ was all that could really run through my head at that point.

The other two also seemed to notice this as Yosuke approached the centre of the room and Chie began observing the posters. Now I would normally make some comment about them being idiots but they were reacting exactly how I was so fuck it. "Someone must really hate this person." Chie deduced.

"Yeah," I said. "who the hell even lives in here _to _hate someone? I have a hard time believing that this place suddenly popped out of thin air."

"Guys," Yosuke called. "this chair and noose... that kind of arrangement is never good." He began observing the rope. "What... is this a scarf?" His eyes widened and he ran into the corner of the room. I then heard the sound of a zip being undone. _Oh Jesus Christ!_ "I can't take it any more! My bladder's gonna explode!" He yelled. He turned to see me and Chie with our best 'what the fuck' expressions on. "Get outta here, I can't go if everyone's watching."

"Like I wanted to watch anyway!" Chie complained before turning and walking out the door. I was about to do the same when both me and Yosuke heard a scream from outside.

Upon exiting the room we found ourselves face-to-face with... something. The rounded shape of it indicated that it was the same thing we had run from in the first place. It had bear ears, a mostly red body with gold trimming on it's coat (it looked like a coat anyway). There was something that looked like a zip around its neck, its face was white with massive black eyes and blue around the rest of its head. Whatever this thing was it was shaking which told me that it was terrified. What of? I couldn't tell, it had followed us here so I doubted it was scared of us.

"Wh-what are you?" Chie asked it. And to my infinite surprise this mascot-looking thing actually spoke.

It looked around wearily while it told us. "Y-you need to get out of here before the Shadows show up." It told us, warningly.

"What do you mean Shadows?" I asked it.

This thing apparently had some sort of mental breakdown at that moment because it looked around frantically for a few moments. "There's no time!" It reached inside of its... coat. How the hell did it do that? No matter. Anyways, it reached inside its coat and pulled out a pair of glasses similar looking to my own and passed them to me. "Here! Take these and get out of here!" It then proceeded to run away as fast as it possibly could leaving us confused. Then I noticed it.

There was a black liquid substance forming on one of the doors on the building which now that I think about it, looked sort of like an inn. The substance grew a blue tragedy mask for a face and then slipped off the door and began to slide towards us. We were so caught up in this that we didn't notice the other one coming from further down the hallway, they were making a strange growling noise as they saw us and then they began to float. Before I knew it they had formed themselves into balls which gained a yellow colouring with purple stripes and a giant red mouth. The mask was now on its back. As we stared on at these two monstrosities which I now gathered were Shadows we heard the growl come from behind us as well and Chie noticed that one of them had also formed from the door we came out of. What did we do you may ask? We pegged it.

We managed to dodge the two in front of us and kept on running. This shit was insane. This couldn't be fucking happening could it? Well I suppose if I can believe a world inside the TV then I can believe a bunch of floating mouth things chasing after me. Doesn't make it any less weird though.

I jumped my way down some stairs that we used to get up there in the first place and kept on running frantically. I didn't care much for the safety of the other two, I don't much care for people unless they do something to earn my loyalty and to do that you have to be putting up with some seriously hard shit. This doesn't count because we weren't so much dealing with it as we were running the fuck away from it. But I digress.

We continued to run with Chie overtaking me at some point down the line and I was starting to think that maybe we were in the clear. But no; life just isn't that fucking simple. One of the sneaky bastards decided it would float above us and came down in front of Chie. The Shadow then proceeded to lick her face which sent her down for the count. I can't say I blame her either. That looked fucking disgusting.

I stopped in my tracks and Yosuke ran forwards more and fell. The Shadows had us surrounded now. There was no escape. They all appeared to be looking at Yosuke as if he was some sort of tasty meal while I just stood there. I actually began to panic which was strange, didn't I just get done saying I didn't give a shit? Nevertheless they began to fly rapidly towards Yosuke and as I prepared for him to become Shadow food I started hearing the voice from the night before.

**Thou art I**

The Shadows froze in their tracks and turned to me, a floating blue tarot card coming towards my hand from the heavens.

**I am thou**

The Shadows began to fly towards me instead but I simply held my ground. For some reason I was especially calm during this situation.

**Thou hath opened thine eyes**

The card was directly above my outstretched hand now and out of my mouth came one word. A word I have never heard before but somehow came completely naturally to me. Out loud I spoke the word "Persona." and crushed the card in my hand.

A blue light began to shine around me and I could feel a presence forming behind me. Upon first glance the creature emanating from my body appeared to be human but as more of it began to form in the blue light it became apparent that it was anything but. Its skin was grey and its eyes had devilish slits for pupils. It grew bat wings and a tail that I would often associate with the devil. It had some sort of collar on and wore an evil smirk. This creature was Incubus of the Devil Arcana. He was my Persona.

Don't ask me how I knew this at the time because I have no idea. It just kind of popped into my head.

I felt confidence wash over me as the Shadows continued to speed towards me. I smirked when one got close enough and Incubus began to claw at it with his demonic hands, when he was done the creature became nothing but a temporary black smoke. The smile never left my face but one of them got close enough to ram into Incubus which wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't feel all of his pain. I gritted my teeth at the strike but kept my calm face on and yelled at the offending creature "Keep the fuck off of me!" And on my mental command Incubus drove his claws through the Shadow's mouth and out of the back of its head. The final Shadow charged towards me and I felt the need to command my new friend to do something a tad more badass. "Incubus!" I yelled and Incubus let loose a giant stream of flame which made contact with the Shadow and destroyed it.

Yosuke stared in awe at my display. "So awesome..." He muttered. This brought a smirk to my face yet again.

Incubus had at this point vanished back into the sea of my soul until he is needed again. "Persona..." I said to myself. "To be given a power like this... looks like this year won't suck as much as I thought." I looked down at Yosuke and smiled, his awed expression amused me.

-A Year of Adventure-

Of course we had to wait for Chie to wake up before leaving and even after multiple attempts at prompting her awake we weren't getting anywhere so when she finally awoke of her own accord me and Yosuke were ecstatic to say the least.

"What happened to those monsters?" She asked groggily.

"Paul totally took them out." Yosuke told her, just barely keeping the excitement out of his voice.

"For real?!"

"Yeah, for real." I told her calmly. "But before we all get excited I think we'd better find a way out of this shithole."

"Yeah... right." She said quietly. Yosuke gave her his hand and helped her up.

I used my head to make a 'come on' gesture. "Come on. That thing that gave me the glasses seemed to know a lot. Maybe he know where the exit is."

They both nodded but appeared to be a bit bewildered at how civil I was being. After what happened though, I was just in the mood to be nice.

We walked in the direction of roughly where we entered this world at. I figured it would be around there somewhere because it ran off screaming in this direction when the Shadows showed up. Sure enough we reached the area and our mascot-looking friend was there. Chie and Yosuke were wearing less than pleased expressions whereas I simply remained neutral. I didn't want to scare off our one chance of running home now did I?

"Excuse me... mascot thing?" I began. I was trying to come up with a proper name for it. "Do you know of any exit to this place?"

"Huh?!" He seemed to not have noticed us before but composed himself quickly. "Y-you want an exit?"

"You're damn right we want an exit!" Yosuke nearly yelled. "We're freaking the hell out here!" Way to be subtle mate. Way to be subtle.

"Yeah and what about those Shadow things? Did _you _make them?" Chie accused. It was quite clear that he didn't, if he had then why the hell would he have been so scared of them? It is as Mr. Spock would say 'most illogical'.

Apparently the mascot thought so too. "Y'know, I've had it about up to here with people barging in and riling up the Shadows!" He stamped his foot and a pile of three old box TV's shot out of the ground. I could see the others about to question this when he grabbed us and pushed us all in. My comments, man that was a tight fucking squeeze.

-A Year of Adventure-

Out of the TV at Junes we fell once more in the normal world. Yosuke and Chie jumped for joy and simultaneously yelled "We're alive!" and then began hugging in the middle of the store. This touching moment was cut short however when Chie kneed Yosuke in the crotch and told him not to take advantage of the situation.

It was at this point when I noticed the poster. It was on the wall just by the TV we had used to get to that other world and the body looked familiar. All I had to do was imagine it without a head and it all came to me. This poster was of Misuzu Hiragi, the wife Taro Namatame the adulterer. "It's the poster from that creepy place." I told them.

They both looked up at me and Chie was apparently the first to notice. "Oh yeah, I didn't notice before but it's Misuzu Hiragi. They're saying her husband had an affair with that announcer who just died."

"So what?" Yosuke groaned, still recovering from the most recent nut-shot. "I don't get it."

"There might be some connection between the TV world and Ms. Yamano's murder." I said.

Yosuke jumped up immediately. "Don't go there! I don't know if my poor heart can take it!" He began holding his crotch region again although it didn't appear to be because of the pain. "Oh damn, I still haven't gone to the bathroom. I'm gonna piss myself!" He then ran off.

"This whole situation is giving me the chills." Chie said. "I'm just gonna head home and forget about it." She then walked off. I was left alone to my thoughts.

The other two might try to forget about it but I didn't think that was possible. Not anymore. The events that occurred today got us directly involved in a dangerous situation and I didn't think it would be possible for any of us to just walk away.

It was just a bad feeling I had in my gut...


End file.
